Theses and Dissertations Collection

Abstract

American politics is currently substantially polarized. One faction of political While politicians, party elites, and political activists are polarized they are not the only ones. There is a distinct portion of thought in political science that only politicians, and political activists are the only segment of society is polarized. Contrary to the views of these political scientists, Americans from every part of society are polarized, in many cases deeply so. Although politics necessarily involves differences of opinion, American politics has reached a point of polarization

unprecedented in its history. Congress has reached a point in which it cannot even agree over keeping basic functions of government running. The yearly budget process has turned into an exercise of fighting to the last minute over the simple act of appropriating the money to keep the government running. Americans are confused and irritated at this failure of government to function. In fact, it is often difficult for professional political scientists to understand or even agree regarding polarization: when polarization is difficult for political scientists to understand, it is a titanic task for the average American to understand polarization, and even more difficult to understand the implications. Political polarization, as explained by political pundits often confuses the matter. Polarization is not simply a phenomenon that occurs only amongst political elites and party activists. Nor is it exclusively a function of the competition between the perceived elitists in the blue states and the common folk in the red states. Polarization is much more complicated that the red/blue state divide conveniently oversimplified by the maps used by political pundits during the never-ending campaign cycle in the United States. Americans are polarized from left to right along the ideological spectrum. However, there are various variables that can help us understand and consequently explain political polarization amongst the American people.